Stray
by Glittering Pegasus
Summary: After an encounter with a mysterious Rambaldi artifact, Sydney experiences some peculiar changes. (co-written w/ Sandpiper)(Will include some s/v of course)
1. Prologue

Title: Stray

A/N: Ok this is insane and really out of the ordinary. Lol. It was written by Sandpiper and I based on a joke that I guess we took a little too seriously. But um… enjoy. Lol. 

Authors: Glittering Pegasus and Sandpiper

Summary: After an encounter with a mysterious Rambaldi artifact, Sydney experiences some peculiar changes. 

**PROLOGUE**

I looked into the shards of broken glass scattered about the sidewalk and one undeniable yet horrible fact struck my mind like lightning.   
  
I'm a dog.   
  
Don't get me wrong. I'm usually pretty confident about my looks. But today, there was no use in arguing. I was a dog. How could this have happened to me?   
  
I don't even know where to begin. I suppose it started with the Rambaldi device that Sloane just had to have. So of course he sent me off to some far corner of the world to find it, "for the good of the country".   
  
Right! As if Arvin Sloane ever did anything good for this country. He's one of the few people that I could see myself being able to kill without feeling guilty, but regardless of how I feel I just happen to be a double agent which meant that I had to smile in his face and cheerfully jump on the first plane to Spain to rob a museum.   
  
The rest was just bad luck I suppose. Was it my fault that Dixon and I got separated so I ended up having to keep the device overnight? And was it my fault that Rambaldi put a hand shaped outline on the top? It might as well have been a hallway with a lever and a big neon sign that says "Do Not Pull This Lever" but doesn't say why.   
  
Curiosity is a perfectly human trait, plus, I've handled hundreds of Rambaldi artifacts during my seven years at SD-6 without anything ever happening to me.   
  
Okay, so that last part was a little my fault, but the fact that we went back to LA the next day and the next animal I came in contact with just happened to be a small white bulldog was completely not my fault!   
  
So now I'm a total dog. A canine. Tail wagger, complete with puppy dog eyes. Best in show. Possibly worst. And somehow a part of my brain is making it feel like this is all so normal. Ha. Must have been some kind of brain manipulation Rambaldi worked into the thing so that his followers wouldn't try to kill themselves when they saw that they were a FREAKING OTHER SPECIES!!  
  
I wasn't sure where I was going or what to do, and my dog brain wasn't helping much until it responded to the call of a male voice a little way behind us.   
  
"Donovan! Donovan where did you get to? DONOVAN!"   
  
No. Freaking. Way.   
  
I thought my day couldn't possibly get any worse.   
  
  



	2. Just a Walk in the Park

A/N: Thanks for all the reviews! Good readers! ::pats the reviewers on the head and gives them a bone.::

**Chapter One**

She's late. My common sense told me that it wasn't an uncommon occurrence for me to arrive for debriefings before she does, but I had been jogging around for a good forty minutes and still no sign of Sydney. 

On top of my own paranoia Donovan decided to run of the trail and wrap himself around a tree until the leash broke. So now I was wondering around mindlessly, finding no sign of Donovan or Sydney. 

Suddenly, I heard a bark, and I saw Donovan ahead of me, stopped dead in his tracks. It was if something had shocked him. He just froze, turned slowly around, saw me, and cocked his head in seeming disbelief. 

I headed over to him, breathing hard. "What's wrong, boy? Something scare you?" I patted his head and grabbed up his leash. "Let's go find Syd."

I lead or rather dragged Donovan around the length of the park a few more times before giving up and sitting down on a bench. So I just sat there. I sat there through joggers huffing and puffing as the passed, couples strolling by hand in hand, children making a beeline for the playground, and numerous pigeons picking around on the grass.

Finally, I reluctantly faced the fact that if she was going to show up she would have already. I reached into my pocket and dug out my cell phone to dial the familiar numbers.

No answer.

This was not good. There were many possibilities as to where she could be of course, but not matter how rational the explanation I could not shake the feeling that something was not right. I hung up the phone, and looked down at Donovan. He whimpered as if in response, I sighed and reached down to stroke his head.

**SYDNEY POV **

Ok, so is it wrong for me to admit that I'd pictured this before? Vaughn touching my face and hair and speaking to me in that soft voice of his? But I'd NEVER imagined it would happen like this

I was so shocked when I saw him come jogging up over the hill that I actually opened my mouth to call his name. I thought I would die when a bark came out. That from a woman who is supposed to have genius intellect?  I could practically see a whole stadium full of people pointing at me and laughing.

It was like a freak show. "Come see the amazing super spy chase her own tail! And for an extra dime you can watch as she makes an even bigger fool out of herself in front of her owner and handler!'"

Not that Vaughn would ever know it was me. I would make sure he never knew it was me. I would die. I could trust him with anything, anything at all. But this wasn't a matter of trust. This was a matter of life and humiliation. 

"Come on, Donovan. We have to find out what happened to Sydney."

He tugged a little on my leash and all I could do was follow and desperately shout in my mind "I'm Sydney!!! I'm here! I'M SYDNEY!!" 

Too bad all I could manage was a whimper. 

I deserve some serious Kibbles n' Bits for this.

******

A/N: Can me and Sandpiper have more reviews please? Pleeeeaaase? Lol. 


	3. What's a Dog To Do?

**CHAPTER TWO**

**Sydney POV**

I didn't figure out much else that day. Hey, can you blame me? Trust me after realizing that you have somehow occupied the body of your handler's dog your reasoning skills don't exactly function at 100%. 

As a matter of fact about the only other thing that I learned was that I was definitely not telepathic because from the time he lead me out of the park to when we arrived at his front door I was doing nothing but screaming "Vaughn, I'm Sydney! Right here! The one covered in fur!"

Needless to say it didn't work

How many times had I thought about seeing this place? The place where Vaughn lived and ate and slept. Put on his suit in the morning. At least I was getting _something out of this. I had to explore a little more. _

Until I knew how to get myself out of this situation and back into a human body, I figured I might as well put the quality time to good use and find out some things about this man. So I snapped the leash out of his hand and raced up the stairs. 

"Donovan! What's up with you today?" Vaughn called after me. I ignored him. 

I sniffed around everywhere eagerly, looking for anything that would teach me more. I was having such a good time that I didn't even think about one key point in this whole thing until I noticed his King's pen sitting on the table, reminding me of what I should be doing and where I should be. 

That's when reality sunk in and melted away my playful doggie happiness. 

_What happens when they can't find me?_

I suddenly felt very foolish for running around completely ignoring to the dire situation I was in. I would be considered missing pretty soon and it would not be very likely that they would find me. Yeah, I'm sure that when I'm late for one debriefing the thought will just jump into Vaughn's head that, "Hey, maybe she got tapped in the body of my dog."

I had absolutely no idea what I was going to do. I groaned and wandered into the kitchen. Vaughn was sitting on a stool at the counter. He seemed to take no notice of my presence in the room.

I sat by the stool quietly and looked up at him, making a desperate attempt at anything that would hint who I was. Vaughn glanced down and noticed me, smiling a little. "Hey, boy. You okay now? You had me a little worried before."

I wagged my tail. 

"Ok. I have to make some phone calls. Be a good boy and I'll give you a treat." he told me, and picked up his cell phone off the counter. Dog sight isn't too keen, so I couldn't see who he was calling but I figured it was me because he hung up after a minute, sighing. 

He put is head in his hands and sighed again. "Where the hell is she?" he asked in a nervous tone. I was touched. He was worried about me. 

He lifted his head and picked up his phone again. "Hello, Jack? It's Vaughn. Do you know where your daughter is?.... She didn't show up to her meeting with me and she's not answering her phone.... No.... No, the park.... The operations center? All right, I'll be right there." 

And he went out the door and was gone. I sat alone in the kitchen, still wagging my tail and wondering how the hell I could get myself out of this situation. That's when it hit me. What if there was no way out?

****

A/N: Be good little readers and tell Sandy and I what you think! Lol. Good readers! (I think I'll put that at the end of every chap. Good readers! Lol)


	4. Don't Touch That Box!

Chapter Three

Vaughn didn't come back until late that night, so I had absolutely nothing to do other than roam around his house worrying about what would happen when Francie and Will, the CIA, and Sloane started to miss me. 

Somehow I managed to fall asleep in an easy chair in his living room because I was startled awake when he came through the door at about 11 o'clock looking tired and haggard, his brow creased with worry.

I leapt down out of the chair as he came into the living room and plopped down on the couch. He set his briefcase on the table and took something out. As I said dog's vision isn't too great but I eventually recognized it. It was the very thing that had gotten me into this mess in the first place. The Rambaldi device I stole in Madrid. 

I guess that means they found where I dropped it in the park. That would explain why he looked so worried.

Vaughn turned it over a few times in his hands and looked it over with a sigh. He came to a stop on the side with the hand shape and stared at it intently. I knew exactly what he was feeling. Like it was impossible to take your eyes off that one spot.

_Oh no. he's not going to..........._

I strained my eyes enough to see Vaughn running his fingers along the edge of the hand shape.

"He is! Oh, crap!"

I quickly dashed over to where he was sitting and jumped against his leg causing him to jump. 

"Jesus Christ, Donovan!" He yelled, and then shook his head with a sigh. 

"Okay, okay. Come on," He said putting the device back in his briefcase and closing the top. For a moment I was relieved enough that he wasn't going to try to touch the device again to care where we were going so I followed him into the kitchen. I watched him open the cabinet and take out a can of dog food. 

Oh he thought I wanted him to feed me. Well, I guess it's logical since as far as he knows I'm just a normal dog with no double agents trapped inside it, but logical or not it doesn't help me at all.

My musings were interrupted as he set the bowl down on the floor in front of me. The smell, or should I say stench, almost knocked me of my feet. 

"Ummm.......yeah. I don't think so. Buddy, you and I are going to have to have a serious chat as soon as I regain my vocal cords." I thought to myself, giving the possibility of telepathy one more chance. Still no luck. 

He turned and walked out flipping off the light as he went. So I stood there in a dark room staring at nothing. 

I sighed, or whatever the dog equivalent of sighing is, and glanced again at the dog food. I myself had no interest at all but I found my dog brain thinking that it looked very appetizing. 

I quickly turned away, if I ever got out of this I did not want to be able to say that I'd eaten dog food even if I was a dog at the time.

So now what? I could dig up some good blackmail. No, that would just be wrong. 

I blinked and sat down, thinking as hard as I could with the intelligence level of Odie from Garfield. Just then, something bright white caught my eye amidst the darkness. 

I wobbled closer to it and concluded that it was a piece of paper. I tugged it down from the table and strained my weak dog vision to read the words. 

They were blurry and illegible to me, but a few words jumped out at me. 

_Feelings, us, mother, and__Sydney__. Not in that order, or course. _

Vaughn had been writing something to me! What had he been writing?? If only I could read it!

Wait! What the heck was I doing worrying about some letter that is probably none of my business anyway? 

Well it did say 'Sydney' so if it was to me that I had every right to wonder.

At least I think it did. I could have been mistaken. I think to myself then suddenly realize how ridiculous this all is. I'm standing in Vaughn's kitchen in the middle of the night having an argument with myself about a letter that I can't even read anyway!

I shook my head as hard as I could, creating a weird sensation as my ears flapped back and forth, and turned back into the living room. I hopped up onto the couch and settled down into the pillows. I slowly fell asleep there feeling very helpless and alone.


	5. The Scent of Sprinkles

**chapter**** four**

"You know you're worse than my sister at taking forever to get ready!"

The noise of voices brought me back to consciousness, but before I was fully awake a coat was dumped on top of me. The dog and even the human in me a little bit were sent into panic mode. I shot awake and started squirming around until I managed to kick the polyester cover off me. I looked up to see Eric Weiss looking down at me with an amused expression.

"Hey boy, what's wrong with you?" he asked and reached down to stroke my ears, "Hey Mike, what's the matter with your stupid dog?"

"I don't know," Vaughn answered as he walked into the room to shove some papers into his brief case, "He's been acting weird, and he didn't eat yesterday."

"Maybe living with you is finally catching up with him," Weiss joked. 

"Haha, very funny," He said. attaching a leash to my collar. He then leaned down and lifted me up off the couch.

"Whoa! Okay, so.....Vaughn just lifted me into his arms." He stepped away from the couch and set me down on the floor, a little too quickly for my taste. 

I stood there for a moment trying to shake the remains of sleep from my eyes when I felt a tug at the leash. Obviously wherever they were going they were planning for me to go along. I followed along in stride between them.

We walked a couple of blocks before stopping in front of a sweet smelling place. Dogs have an excellent scent of smell, so standing outside this place was torture. The scents of coffee, frosting, bagels, fresh bread, even sprinkles. I bet you thought sprinkles didn't even have a scent. 

Well, obviously you've never been a dog. 

The combined aroma was driving both the dog and the human in me completely insane. My stomach churned and growled with emptiness. I was damn hungry!

"Here get me a sesame seed bagel and a small latte," Vaughn said reaching into his pocket to take out some money.

"You got it," Weiss said taking the money and going inside. Meanwhile, Vaughn led me in the opposite direction to the park across the street. 

_I didn't know the park was so close to where he lived. I wonder if Weiss lives around here to._

Weiss caught up with us a couple minutes later. We strolled around the park as the two of them sipped their coffee. 

"So any news about Sydney?" Vaughn asked.

"No," Weiss responded as he feed me a piece of jelly donut. Normally I would have felt weird about that but at that moment I was too hungry to really care, "No one's heard from her."

Vaughn sighed and shook his head, "I have a bad feeling about this Weiss."

Weiss nodded sympathetically. "Me too, Mike."

They kept walking, and I trotted slowly behind, amazed at the concern they were showing. I never realized how important my safety was to them, and if I were human I probably would have gone misty eyed. 

As Vaughn reached down and handed me another little bit of donut, I realized that this must be a regular thing. Vaughn, Weiss, and Donovan all going out to the little donut shop in the morning and then strolling in the park. It was really nice. 

And yet a little part of me was frustrated by the thought. Why didn't I know these casual little rituals of Vaughn's life? Why should I have to turn into his dog to find them out? 

It was right then that I decided that if I ever got out of this, I was going to find out as much about him as I could. 

Suddenly, his quiet voice broke into my thoughts. "I hope she's alright."

"Don't worry. I'm sure she's... fine. We'll find her," Weiss promised. 

Vaughn didn't look all too convinced. 

"We will," Weiss repeated firmly. 

"Thanks, man," Vaughn replied. 

Suddenly, Weiss stopped walking. He turned to Vaughn. Vaughn came to a stop as well to listen to whatever Weiss needed to say. "Look, Mike... I've known you a while. I'd say you're my best friend. I know you pretty well. And I know you have feelings for Sydney that you shouldn't have--" 

"Eric, please don't--" 

"Wait, let me finish. At first I was kind of hesitant about this whole thing. I knew you cared about her, at least as a good friend. That was still going too far where agent-handler relationships are concerned. And it bothered me that you might be putting yourself and your feelings on the line. But after the countless successes and times you saved her, I realized that it wasn't hurting either one of you. If anything, it was a stronger way of helping than any senior officer could provide. I felt terrible for betraying you about it."

"Eric, you already apologized," Vaughn sighed. 

Weiss continued anyway. "I know. And I still have more to say. As time went on, it became apparent to me. Your feelings go beyond caring and beyond friendship. You're in love with her, man."

At this point, I could have dropped unconscious right there. Love... in love? Did Weiss just insinuate that Michael Vaughn, me handler, was in love with me? Couldn't be true. 

Vaughn retaliated. "In love? What are you talking about?" 

I knew it was too good to be true. 

Weiss looked like he was about to say something else, but just then their pagers both went off. They looked down. 

"It's Devlin," Weiss spoke for both of them. "Hey, maybe they got something on Sydney!" 

Vaughn smiled a little. "Maybe."  

 I felt touched by how hopeful he sounded but unless Devlin was paging them to tell them that Intel indicated that I was currently on a mission to remove a colony of fleas from my left ear, I doubted their information would prove to be very useful. 

But what could I do? So I followed them home and wished I could reach up to scratch my left ear.


	6. Two Very Very Awkward Confrontations

**Chapter Five**

**Vaughn POV**

Weiss and I hurried back to my place from the park to drop Donovan at home and pick up our cars. It took an enormous amount of will power not to run, since Weiss happened to be with me and had just insinuated that I was in love with Sydney so if I had it would have only cemented his suspicions. 

It seemed like Donovan was still acting weird. When I opened the door to let him in, he whimpered a bit and opened his eyes as wide as they could go, refusing to walk in the door. 

"Come on, Donovan. Please go inside? I'm really in a hurry." I patted his head and he slowly entered my apartment. "Good boy," I said to him and left. 

I wondered why he was acting so odd. Maybe he sensed how upset I was and wanted to help? Then again, maybe he was sucking up for more food or something. Maybe he was sick. I made a mental note to take him to the vet after this whole situation was resolved.

I drove behind Weiss to the command center. As we arrived in the main room Jack, Devlin and, Kendall were waiting for us. 

"Agent Vaughn, Agent Weiss thank you for coming down. We may have some new developments on what happened to Agent Bristow-" Devlin began, but was cut off by Jack.

"SD-6 has a document with information about the device Sydney stole in Madrid. It speaks of a way to reverse the effects of the device."

"Wait a minute what are the effects?" Weiss asked.

"We don't know," Jack said, "However, from the document there is reason to believe that the effects may be......debilitating in some way."

"Alright. Agent Vaughn, do you still have the device?" Kendall asked.

"Yes," I answered.

"Good, get it down to our quarantine lab so we can figure out what the effects of it might be," He ordered. I nodded.

After sending the device down to the lab, I sat at a desk going over the reports. 

Sydney's flight landed at LAX right on time the night before, she arrived at Credit Dauphine at 8:30 the next morning and then left at 5:00, no one has seen her since, our team found the Rambaldi device in the park yesterday but no other sign of Sydney, and as far as Sloane and her friends know she's out of town for the weekend. Now we had a document that talked about "the effects" from the device.

I chewed my lip nervously at the thought that she might be somewhere hurt or sick. It would have to be bad too, Sydney's no wimp.

Yet somehow that didn't really make sense either. If she were hurt so badly that she couldn't even make it to a phone to call for help then how could it be that our team couldn't find her in the park? I felt a headache coming on thinking about all the contradictory facts in this case. 

It suddenly occurred to me that their might be one person who would be able to give us more information about the device. The only problem might be getting her to share...........

**Sydney POV**

I hopped up and down a hallway a few times before finally plopping down on the floor with a groan. The dog in me was finding it great fun, but the human was bored stiff. After Vaughn brought me home this morning I figured that if I was ever going to get out of this I would have to find someway to communicate with him. I tried holding a pen in my mouth for about an hour before I finally gave up. 

It obviously wasn't going to work. So my situation was not looking very good. I could only make the dog noises, no coherent words, and writing was out as well........what else could I do?

I snooped around his apartment some more but there isn't much to be found when you're only a foot tall. So now here I was sitting around in Vaughn's apartment. What normally would have been a good thing, spoiled by unpredictable circumstances. 

My daydream was interrupted by the sound of a door opening.

Before I even had chance to wonder who would be coming to his house in the middle of the day, the question was answered by a female voice calling out his name, "Mike?"

"Oh! You have GOT to be kidding me!" I thought to myself.

**Vaughn POV**

Why is it that every time I entered this room I suddenly felt fifty pounds heavier? It was like this huge weight was suddenly rested onto my back, and it wasn't lifted until I was far, far away from her little room shrouded in glass. 

I took a deep breath and reminded myself; _She saved your life before. And this is for __Sydney__. _

"Irina," I said as I caught sight of her smoothing her new blanket out. 

She turned quickly and her eagle eyes pierced me like a laser. "Mr. Vaughn." 

How could I do this? Especially after admitting my feelings for Sydney to her. 

"I'm here to ask you a question."

"I figured." 

"Sydney is missing. Two days ago she was sent on a mission to Madrid to retrieve a Rambaldi device, and no one's seen her since. Apparently the device is supposed to have some kind of effect on people," I explained, sure she already knew. 

She looked at me, eyes blazing. "I need you to describe the device to me."

I thought back. "It's a wooden box. That's what it looks like. There's a hand outline on the top and a Rambaldi symbol engraved into the side. But I've held it and it didn't do anything to me." 

She looked distantly past me for a second, then focuses again. "There is a Rambaldi device, supposedly one he built as one of the main keys to his 'master plan.' I'm not sure what it did, but I know that the stories say it is only effective if you place your hand on that outline."

I suddenly remembered sitting in my house with the box, about to match up the traced fingers with my own when Donovan had distracted me. Strange. 

"Do you have any idea at all what it does?" 

"All I know comes from a Rambaldi document owned by one of my contacts in Kiev. It's another prophecy. It was just an incomplete record written by Rambaldi about the effects. 'If human flesh meets the mark depicted here, its energy shall be burned within their skin, and this world's alternating power will be scarred into their blood.'"

I thought hard about it, trying to pull each word apart and search for the hidden meanings. "Do you remember anything else?"

"Just the next couple of lines. 'When this force has laid its effect upon the bearer of its burden, he will be subdued by its mordant power and from within the depths of soul will be changed into that which just felt his touch.'"

_'Changed into that which just felt his touch,' I repeated inside my head. After thinking about this information for a minute I nodded my head._

"Thank you," I muttered instinctively, my mind in other places. However as I was turning to leave I saw the triumphant and amused look spread across her face, and heard her words echoing inside my head, 

_'How do you say thank you to the woman who killed your father?'_

**Sydney POV**

Dogs throw up, right? I mean, they don't hack up hairballs like cats, but they have to have some type of regurgitation system. 

Whatever it was, I knew that I had to figure out how to do it soon, because Alice was causing me to experience serious physical and psychological nausea. 

She was like one of those 'nannies' you always read about in books and see in shows but never think they actually exist. She spoke in a high pitched, sugary sweet voice that made me want to choke. Her extremely strong perfume that was smothering me wasn't helping. 

Thank God we were walking outside. I think I really would have dropped over dead if I didn't have the scent of fresh air mixing in. 

One good thing came out of all that. I realized that Alice hadn't come to the apartment to have a date with Vaughn, she'd only come to drop off an old, dirt stained Kings jacket. It had amused me to imagine Vaughn wearing that. 

Well, maybe there is one more not-so-awful occurrence could come out of this ordeal. People always say to have a positive outlook. And anyway, it wouldn't be entirely my fault. I mean, it's perfectly innocent for a dog to _accidentally mistake a person's leg for a fire hydrant. _

Somehow, after our walk, I concluded that Alice didn't agree. 


	7. Love Advice Sessions with 'Man's Best Fr...

**Chapter Six**

"And what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Kendall demanded.

"Well Sir, I took it to mean that if someone touched the hand outline they would be changed into whatever it was they touched afterward," I said. 

"So let me get this strait. You want me to believe that Agent Bristow was turned into something else?" Kendall said in a tone of voice that conveyed that he wanted to either roll on the floor laughing or smash my head with something hard, maybe both.

"Sir, I'm not saying for sure that's what happened, but any information we have could help us," I said, knowing full well how insane it sounded.

"Need I remind you that this is not a science fiction movie? An idea such as that defies the laws of physics-" Kendall started to rant.

"Alright! Maybe the device has changed Sydney into something else, though I sincerely doubt it," Jack said giving me a hard stare, " or maybe Derevko is simply playing games with, us or that the document she spoke of was pure fiction, but either way we need to find Sydney as soon as possible! SD-6 knows Sydney is missing and are conducting their own investigation, and with that there is a chance her cover could be blown. I took the Rambaldi device to Sloane, which should buy a couple days time."

Of course Sloane would care more about his precious Rambaldi device than Sydney's life. I felt a bitter anger in the pit of my stomach at the thought. 

"Speaking of Sloane, I have a meeting with him in ten minutes. Contact me as soon as you hear anything, " Jack instructed, then excused himself. 

I returned Kendall's cold stare and as harshly as I could informed, "The same goes for me. I have to leave. Bye." 

When I got home, I dropped my things on the coffee table and rubbed my aching forehead. I was about to head toward the bathroom for aspirin when the door opened behind me. I was surprised to see Alice walk holding Donovan by his leash.

"Hey," she smiled widely at me.

"What are you doing here?" I asked. 

"I just came by to return your jacket, and thought I'd be nice and talk this one for a walk," she said looking irritably a Donovan. I wondered if I had missed something.

"Thanks," I said with a sigh, regretting my grouchy tone.

"Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah," I said unenthusiastically.

"Ooookay, I don't believe you!" she chirped, "but I can't stick around to talk I have plans for tonight."

I nodded.

"Oh by the way, I think I should give you this back too," she said and got out her key chain and took off the one to my apartment that I had given her a long time ago.

"You see I know we broke up on kind of bad terms but we're at least friends again so I really think she should quit while we're ahead," she explained and pressed the key into my palm, then rose up onto her toes to kiss me on the cheek, "I'm sorry."

"I understand," I said. She gave me a sympathetic smile then left, softly closing the door behind her. I chuckled at the key in my hand and tossed it onto the table. It probably made me the biggest ass in the world but I really could have cared less about her stamping out the possibility of us reconciling our relationship. 

To be honest I was relived more than anything.

After two aspirin, a long hot shower, and changing into a comfortable pair of sweats and t-shirt, I felt slightly better about the whole Sydney anxiety. 

I opened the door of the steamy bathroom and walked into the other room to find Donovan sitting on the floor staring at an open book, almost as if he were trying to read it. Weird dog. I sat on the edge of the couch next to where he was, and reached down to pat his head. "Hey, Donovan. Having fun reading my nephew's _Animorphs book? He left it here last visit... God, he loves those. I don't even know what they're about."_

Donovan looked up at me and took his paw off the page, then began to tap the cover repeatedly as if he wanted me to look. 

I sighed. "You're a strange dog, you know that? God, like I should really be saying you're strange. I'm the one sitting here conversing with you as though you're going to talk back. It's just that I'm so worried and I need someone to talk to, even if they're not human." Donovan looked up again and cocked his head to the side. Then he jumped up beside me. 

"Oh, ok, so you want to listen?" I laughed and then sighed again, "I just don't know what to do. No one can find Sydney anywhere. We don't know what happened to her. We don't know if she's hurt or in trouble, or even alive."

He just blinked and plopped down on his stomach. 

"I mean... if anything happened to her... I don't know if I could stand it if anything happened to her. What if she's in pain? What if she's being tortured or something? I'd never know until it was too late. And I couldn't save her. And I couldn't tell her..." 

Why was I doing this? It wasn't like Donovan could help me. But I knew I had to get the words out. They'd been lurking only in my mind for too long and if they don't make it out into the open soon, they were going to choke me. I knew it. 

"Donovan, I love her. I really love her. I know it's forbidden and completely screwed up... and I know that any feelings she might have had for me like that were probably erased when she met Alice and assumed we were still dating.....anyway, all of that doesn't matter. I'm in love with her. I'm in love with Sydney Bristow," I finally managed to admit. 

I was about to get up, but first I looked back over at Donovan. "It feels so good to finally be able to say that to someone, even if you don't understand me and even if you don't care." 

But as if to prove me wrong, Donovan reached out a paw and placed it on my hand, staring at me with those huge, seemingly caring puppy dog eyes. He whimpered slightly. "Anyway, thanks for being such a good listener. Now get back to your reading," I joked, then kissed his head, "Night, boy." 

With that, I got up to find my lap top so I could review the information the tech guys acquired from the Rambaldi device.


	8. Thank God for Technology!

**CHAPTER SEVEN~ Syd POV**

The background sound of Vaughn typing on his laptop was probably the only thing that kept me from hyperventilating. Well, okay so I wasn't sure dogs could hyperventilate, but that really wasn't what my mind was on right then.

So far that day things had gone from weird to weirder. As if being turned into a dog wasn't weird enough, right? First Weiss implied that Vaughn was in love with me, then his ex-girlfriend took me on a walk. Then when she brought me home, after a quick stop at her apartment, I watched her and Vaughn sort of break up again.

I'll admit I felt sorry for him, and a little guilty for reasons that I'd rather not discuss. (It was COMPLETELY my dog brain's fault!)

After she left he went strait to the bathroom and I heard the sound of water running a couple seconds later. He stayed in there for nearly half an hour, in the mean time I wondered around yet again looking for either a way to communicate with Vaughn or something to keep my bored mind occupied. I inadvertently found both.

I stepped on a book lying on the floor next to his nightstand. As I looked down the illustrations on the front struck me. Dogs are colorblind, but I could tell it was brightly colored by how vivid the pictures were. They showed a sequence of a boy slowly transforming into a poodle. 

Talk about deja vu. I started wondering what the book was about and why Vaughn had it. I flipped through the pages with my paw catching a few words here and there, but not enough to make any sense. 

Vaughn came out of the bathroom as I was struggling to make out more words on one page. He seemed awfully amused to catch his dog trying to read. I'm sure I would have found it very funny also had I not actually been said dog.

I tried tapping the cover of the book thinking that might be a way to clue him in, but it didn't work. Instead he sat down and started saying something to me, actually probably more to himself, about wanting someone to talk to. It caught my interest so I hopped up to sit next to him. He was usually my confidant so it would be a change for me to be his. However, he didn't know it was me he was talking to, which is what lead to my near heart attack later.

He said he loved me. And this time was different then in Rome, or the time at the observatory, or when he tried to explain to be about Alice. This time there was no question whether he was really trying to convey other feelings for me or just friendship. "I'm in love with Sydney Bristow," were his exact words. I'd say that pretty much clarified it! 

I whimpered involuntarily and started pacing even faster than before. After his unknowing confession Vaughn left, returned with his laptop, and started working on something. Meanwhile I leapt off the bed, retreated to a small corner of the room, and started pacing around mindlessly.

_Vaughn said he loved me, Vaughn said he loved me, repeated in an endless loop in my head. I forced myself to stop pacing and stand still for two seconds. This was getting me no where. Not that I'd been accomplishing a whole lot before though._

I turned around when I heard the keying sound stop behind me. I watched as he rubbed his eyes and laid his head against his left arm, using his right to push the rolling mouse in the middle of the keyboard. He scrolled through something for a while until his eye lids gradually dropped and his hand relaxed. I stood for a couple of minutes after realizing that he was asleep then slowly made my way back over to the bed.

I jumped up onto the end and laid down resting my head on my paws. He was lying on his stomach with his head toward the foot of the bed. He looked peaceful in his sleep, without the worry lines in his forehead that appeared all too often on my account. I sighed. 

All day I had been torn between being able to do things that I never could normally and the insane fact that I had been turned into a dog, but now I was certain.........I did not what to have to be his dog to be able to sleep in Vaughn's bed. 

Not that I had ever thought about it. 

I snickered inside my head. You've got to know it's a lie I couldn't even say that to myself without it sounding sarcastic. I wanted to be human again. I wanted to be able to know the casual details of his life without having to be lead around on a leash. I wanted Vaughn to tell me he loved me as me instead of me as is dog.

I sighed again. The only problem was I had yet to even find a way to let someone know that I had been turned into man's best friend, much less a way to reverse it. 

Suddenly an idea popped into my head. I stood up and walked over to him. Careful not to wake him up I used my nose and front legs to push the computer away from him just enough so that I could get in front of it.

_Okay, that was easy enough. But now what do I type? _

__

What could someone possibly say to their handler when they had been turned into their dog, then heard a confession of love without them knowing that they were confessing it to anyone? 

Finally, I decided and carefully placed my long nails on the keys. 

**Vaughn POV**

I woke up the next morning feeling oddly refreshed. I had this feeling bubbling up inside of me... I wasn't sure what it was, but it had to be a good sign. Maybe they'd found Sydney! 

With that hope in mind, I pushed past Donovan to grab my laptop at the foot of my bed, not bothering to wonder how it had gotten there anyway. I was about to check my e-mail to see if there was any new word on Sydney, but something caught my eye. 

'Word' was open, and a document was minimized in the corner of the screen. I couldn't remember opening the word processing program the night before. I rubbed the sleep from my eyes to see if I was imagining it, but it was still there. 

Curious, I clicked the 'restore' button. 

I quickly read the few sentences that had been typed there. The cursor was blinking at the end, as if flashing a warning sign. 

"Oh, my God..." I whispered, the room around me spinning. "This has to be a dream..."

Some of the words were spelled wrong, as though the person who typed it couldn't quite work the keys. But I could decipher it. "Oh... my... God..."

_"VAugn- _

_You will tink this issz crazyy byt i Am __ur__ dohg. HElop ne._

_~Syd"_

__

I read and re-read the message probably about a million times in ten seconds. Before I had a chance to think my cell phone blared from across the room. I hoisted myself off the bed and cleared the room in a few strides.

"Yeah?" I answered.

"The information you gathered from Irina was correct," a voice said immediately cutting to the point.

"Jack?" I asked stupidly. I could practically see his annoyed look since I obviously already knew it was him.

"Yes. The Rambaldi device does change people," Jack said with a pause before continuing, "into animals."

I didn't respond but instead glanced over toward the bed. 

Donovan.....Sydney.....whoever, was sitting there giving me a look as if to say "Yeah". I felt an uncomfortable cramp starting in my abdomen.

"Vaughn?!" Jack snapped.

"Yeah?" I asked.

"A technician at SD-6 was transformed into a fly after touching the outline on the Rambaldi device. Sloane was hesitant to believe at first but Marshall witnessed the entire event and it was recorded on the security cameras, " He explained, and I knew that he had a hard time believing it also. He continued barking instructions but I didn't hear them. 

I caught my breath and cut in. "Jack listen, I'll meet you at the warehouse in ten minutes," I said and shut off the phone without waiting for a reply. Before leaving, I jammed my laptop's wire into the printer and hit the 'print' button. 

I attached a leash to Donovan's.... Sydney's..... Whoever's (as I had decided to refer to him/her as) collar, feeling extremely uncomfortable with it now knowing the truth. I mean, seriously. I was placing a leash on my agent's neck. 

Time to take the double agent for her walk. 

I tried not to think about it, then I grabbed my coat off its hook, yanked the freshly printer paper out of the machine, and raced out the door, DonovanSydneyWhoever pulling on the leash in my hand and racing ahead of me. 

When I finally arrived at the warehouse, Jack was already there, seeming extremely distraught. But he couldn't be anywhere even close to what I felt. 

He glanced down at the leash I was holding, then to DonovanSydneyWhoever. "Couldn't you have found a more appropriate time to walk your dog, Mr. Vaughn?"

I took a deep breath, not sure how to get this out. "You might not want to refer to her as 'your dog.' I doubt she'd appreciate it."

"This is not the time to be worrying about the dog feeling disrespected!" Jack commented forcefully. "We have to find out what happened to Sydney."

"Jack... first of all, it is the time to be worrying about your dog. Disrespecting the dog is disrespecting your daughter. And with that said, I'd like to add that I know what happened to Sydney."

At first, Jack said nothing, just stared in confusion from me, then to DonovanSydneyWhoever, then back to me. "Are you saying..."

I didn't answer, just handed him the paper. "This was typed on my laptop this morning." 

He took the paper and read it quickly, eyes clouded. 

He looked up at me and spoke slowly, "Sydney... is in your dog?"

At that DonovanSydneyWhoever barked loudly. Jack's piercing gaze shot to him/her. He glanced away for a second, seeming almost freaked out. You've got to know a situation is weird when that happens because Jack Bristow and freaked out just do not go hand in hand! 

"Jack, what are we supposed to do about this?" I asked. 

"SD-6 has the document that explains how to reverse the effects. I'll have to find a way to get that document to the CIA." 

"Alright... it shouldn't be too hard," I agreed, then looked back down at SydneyDonovanWhoever. She/He stared back up at me, and I swear I could actually see Sydney in the dog's huge round eyes. 

Suddenly, I remembered our little conversation back at my apartment, and almost slapped myself in the head. I mentally cringed and tried to keep my face from turning red.

"Jack, what are we going to do about this?" I finally asked.

"SD-6 has a document that explains how to reverse the effects. They tried it on the technician and were successful in restoring him normal," He explained, "It would be too dangerous for me to try to steal the device back and deliver it to the CIA. I'll have to take Sydney to SD-6."

I nodded and slowly leaned down to remove the collar so that Donovan's identification tags would not provide SD-6 with a link Sydney and me. As I undid the strap Sydney/Donovan turned his/her head and met my eyes. I felt an odd feeling come over me followed again by the cramp. He/she lingered by my side for a moment before walking over to Jack. 

As I watched them leaving the warehouse I bit my lip and hopped that everything would go alright. 


	9. The Old Switcheroo

**Chapter Eight~ Syd's POV**

It must have been a strange sight for most people there that day. Jack Bristow walking into the SD-6 office carrying a small white dog.

Some people turned and stared at me, others just chose to stare at the floor. 

Still, my father, being my father, didn't let anything phase him. He walked straight through the room, past all the curious employees, and into the tech lab. Sloane and Marshall where there discussing something. They looked up when he walked in.

"Marshall, I need the Rambaldi device, now." He said placing me on the table amongst wires, microchips, and PC boards. 

"Um... yes Sir. Of course Sir. Oh, what a nice dog. I used to have a dog, you know. A collie, named Lassie. But she never saved anyone from burning barns. Except she did almost start a fire once..."

"Marshall!" Sloane snapped. 

"Sorry," Marshall muttered nervously, looking away from the death glares coming from both Sloane and my father. Sloane looked at dad expectantly.

"Sydney was changed by the Rambaldi device just like our technician," dad explained. 

Sloane quickly glanced from me back to dad, "You're certain of this?"

"Yes. This dog had been lingering around my house for a couple of days now. My house keeper brought it inside to call the animal shelter. However, I left my laptop on that morning and I found this typed on it," he explained handing Sloane a piece of paper.  

 I couldn't read what was on it of course, but I was sure it was a similar version of my message to Vaughn. Leave it to dad to come up with a plan in the time it took to get from the warehouse to Credit Dauphine. 

I was so anxious to return to normal again that I hadn't even considered how my father would explain how he found out I was dog.

Sloane took a cursory read over the paper the looked up. "Marshall get Jack the device!" He ordered.

"Oh, right. The device." Marshall turned red and reached behind him, producing the wooden box. He handed it to my father with words of advice. "Remember not to touch the top hand outline." 

I couldn't have said it better myself if I could talk.

"How is this used to reverse the effects?"

Marshall flipped it carefully to the back and showed my father an engraving at the bottom. It was a small, etched in bird. In a picture next to it, a person stood, though my dog vision couldn't make out details. 

"Just press the hand.... or... whatever.... of the animal to this little circle between the bird and the human. And poof! Back to normal, just like magic." 

My father nodded and gently picked up my paw, placing it to the indicated circle while Marshall watched in awe. 

  A strange, tingling sensation ran up and down my spine. My whole body went numb. There was an odd snapping noise, and suddenly I could see clearly again! Or... could I?

I blinked. Darkness. I blinked again. Nothing. I stared. 

My eyes began to adjust and see outlines. As my vision finally cleared the first thing I caught sight of was an enormous spider crawling over my belly. 

I quickly brushed it away and crushed it into the ground with the heel of my shoe. I stood up, groaning as a pain shot through my back

Wait.... I stood! And I was wearing shoes! I WAS HUMAN AGAIN!!! Me, Sydney Amanda Bristow! I was human!!! A homo-sapien, human being, person, whatever! Human, not dog!! Only two legs and good eyesight and no tail!

But now to the bad news. I didn't know where the hell I was. 

I looked around. There were no buildings to be seen. I was completely surrounded by trees, however it wasn't a forest. The trees were all in neat little rows and the air was fragrant with eucalyptus. A citrus grove.

That meant I was probably still close to LA.  

 With an abnormally trembling hand, (ah, the wonder of hands!) I reached into my pocket and pulled out the cell phone I remembered I'd put there. Carefully, I turned it on praying that the batteries weren't dead. 

It finally came on and showed that there was some strength in both the battery and the signal. I thanked every god that could have been on duty at the moment and dialed a familiar number.

"Hello?" the person answered. 

"Dad..." I began shakily. "I think it worked."


	10. A Couple of Bones to Pick

chapter nine

Sydney POV

I made my way through the grove until I finally came the edge and located the nearest road. My father said he would be there as soon as possible and hastily hung up on me. 

Left with nothing to do other than sit on the side of the road and wait I eventually noticed the scrapes up and down my arms. Though not deep, they were sore, red, and angry looking. I was just thinking to myself that I might have to get a tetanus shot when dad finally pulled up.

He got out of the car and walked around to me. "Are you alright?" He demanded. His tone was gruff and impatient, but I suspected he really was concerned.

"......I think so," I hesitated. Wondering if you could really call the state I was in 'alright'.

I looked at me for a moment then turned and opened the passenger door for me, "Get in. I'll take you to a doctor," he said.

"No," I shook my head as I slid into the car, "I don't need a doctor. I just want to go home."

He looked hesitant, but finally nodded wordlessly and shut the door. He didn't speak much during the drive back to LA, so the exhaustion quickly set in and I dozed off.

******

I woke from his voice calling my name and his hand on my shoulder shaking me awake. I looked up and found we were sitting the driveway in front of my house. 

I blinked a couple times shake all the sleep from my eyes and then moved my hand to the door handle. "I'll umm....I'll talk to you tomorrow," I said.

"Alright, tomorrow," he said but looked at me as if he were troubled. 

I found out why once I got inside and caught my reflection in the hall mirror. My clothes were coated in dirt, and my hair was horribly tangled and filled with leaves.

I was glad Francie wasn't home because I would have had a hard time explaining that. I stripped off my clothes and put them in the washing machine, then got strait into the shower. I didn't come out until the water was cold and I had used up almost half a bar of soap. 

Once I got out I put the iodine and band-aids in the medicine cabinet to good use. Finally after changing into some pajamas (with long sleeves to cover the scrapes), I began to feel clean again.

I was dead tired, but I also felt my stomach twisting and growling with hunger. It suddenly occurred to me that it had probably been a while since my human body had gotten any food. After all if the dog was trapped in my body then how could it have found things to eat......? I shoved the thought away. I didn't even want to think about it. 

Francie came home as I was sitting at the counter with some leftover Chinese food from the fridge.

"Hey sweetie, you're back! How was your trip?" she asked.

"Well it was......interesting," I said remembering my cover story.

"How so?" 

I ran a hand through my hair, not wanting to imagine what had been crawling in it hours before. "I don't know... I guess it was weird because I had a little more time to myself than on my other trips."

Francie nodded. "Wasn't that a good thing?"

I thought back to my doggie time, in Vaughn's house, seeing the things Vaughn did.... having him tell me he loved me. I slow grin spread across my face. "Yeah. I guess it was." 

Beep, Beep, Beep. 

"Ugh."

"Oh, no. Not work," Francie sighed. 

"Uh-huh. I'll just be a little while, I swear."

"Oh, fine. Go. But I swear, that place is draining the life out of you. You're not some dog that should have to come whenever called."

I stopped dead in my tracks; hand on the knob to my bedroom. I wasn't sure what to say. "Um, yeah. Well I've got to get dressed, then go. I'll be back later. I'm going to stop at the mall on the way home." 

As I'd said, I got dressed and left. 

I entered  SD-6 and Sloane greeted me in his office. "Sydney, I know you just had a rather... interesting experience. I think anyone, after something like this, would need some time off. Please, take a two week vacation." 

Great. Now I had to look like I liked him. "Thank you, Sir. I am still kind of disoriented from everything that happened... thank you." 

"It's nothing," he put a hand on my arm and I tried not to flinch. "You know I care about your well- being.'"

I glued on a smile and nodded, then turned my head at the sound of a bark. 

"Oh, the dog is still with Marshall. He wants to find a home for him."

I nodded again and hurried out of the office into Marshall's lab. Donovan sat on a metal table, Marshall patting his head. "What a good dog. Shake?" Donovan lifted a paw into his hand.

"Marshall?" 

Marshall quickly turned around and blushed. "Good afternoon, Miss Bristow. This is a cool dog... I'm going to put it in a shelter though. I'd take him myself but my mom is allergic to dogs. She can't even go near them... that's why we had to get rid of Lassie-" 

"Marshall, I'll take the dog." 

"Will you?" 

"Yes. I have a friend who wants a dog. He might be able to give him a good home." 

Marshall nodded eagerly and handed me the leash. "Here you go, Miss Bristow. Tell me how it goes." 

I smiled at him and took the leash. I headed to my car and got my cell phone. I dialed the familiar numbers. 

"Hello?" 

"Hey." 

"You're okay!"

"Meet me at the usual place. Forty minutes." I hung up. 

Then I drove to the supermarket. There was just one more thing I needed to get. 

* * * * * * * * *

I arrived at the warehouse fifteen minutes early to set everything up. I'd opened up what I'd brought with me. 

Hopefully, "Beefy's Chicken Flavored Bones" don't smell too much. 

When I was finished my work, I got off my knees. They were dusty and my hands were reddened from the cold, dirty cement floor. But I didn't care. What was about to happen was worth it all. 

Vaughn walked in two minutes after I was done, the metal chains clinking as he swung the gate shut. 

He glanced at me, black pants turned brown in the front from the filthy floor, white shirt gone gray. Then he looked down at the floor. 

White contrasted against the black ground, hard white bones. They spelled out a message of meaning, hope, dreams. 

"I LOVE YOU TOO."

Slowly, saying nothing, he looked up at me. His cheeks were pink and his green eyes were full of emotion. 

He took a step closer to me, then another. Still having said nothing out loud, we closed the space between us and our lips met. 

A thousand emotions pulsed through me and I couldn't think or breathe. It was like millions of stars were exploding all around. 

After what seemed like forever but all too soon, we pulled apart. His gaze locked on mine. 

"So... hi."

"Hey."

"Feel good to be back?"

"You have no idea." 

I guess it's true, what they say. 

All dogs go to heaven. 


	11. Epilogue

Epilogue  
  
It was about dinner time when I got home again so, not surprisingly, Will was there.   
  
"Hey, you're just in time. We're making sautéed chicken." Francie greeted.  
  
"It smells great, Fran. Is there anything I can help with?" I asked.  
  
"You can chop some tomatoes,"  
  
"Okay," I said grabbing the tomatoes and a knife and taking them over to the cutting board. Will was sitting on the other side of the counter reading a newspaper.  
  
"You seem to be in a good mood. Did your trip go okay?" He asked.  
  
"Yeah it was fine," I answered.   
  
"So did you have a good time shopping?" Francie cut in.  
  
'Well actually I didn't make it to the mall, but it's okay because I had a nice time making out with my handler instead.' Of course I didn't say that part out loud.  
"Yeah, I found some really cute stuff. Maybe we can go together sometime next week," I suggested, then explained, "My boss gave me the next two weeks off."  
  
"Well it's about time!" Francie exclaimed grinning widely  
  
"Yep," I agreed as I gathered up the tomatoes and dumped them into the pan of chicken. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Will staring at me suspiciously. I could tell he was wondering if there was more to my 'trip' than I had said.  
  
_"Buddy, if you only knew!"_ I thought to myself.  
  
Just as Francie and I were setting the table to get ready to eat Will let out a loud snicker.  
"I swear to god! They fire me for being a heroine addict, but they'll print stupid tabloid crap like this?" he laughed.  
  
"Like what?" I asked curiously and came over to read the article he was speaking of.  
  
**"Wolf-Woman" in ****Los Angeles****?**  
There have been many sightings of the so-called wolf-woman in the surrounding suburbs of Los Angeles within the past week. Residents have described a human like creature, displaying the behavior of an animal. Witness accounts of the appearance of the wolf-woman are vague and inconsistent. Some reports have the wolf-woman wearing clothing while others do not, and estimates about height and weight have been difficult for investigators to obtain. However, a few details remain consistent in the sightings. The wolf-woman is described as having brown hair, and being of Caucasian race.  
Many are skeptical about the credibility of the sightings of the wolf-woman. Rodney Clayton of the National Park Service suggests the possibility that witnesses have been seeing 'a cougar or mountain lion that has wondered down from the mountains.' Police investigators also pointed out that animal like behavior is a symptom of severe autism. However, no clinics in the area have reported any missing patients. The local police and the Wildlife Fish and Game have both conducted investigations, but in spite of numerous reported sightings, no one has found any solid evidence of the wolf-woman's existence.  
  
  
As I read to the bottom of the article two words echoed in my mind, "Oh hell."  
  
The End

A/N: Well, that's all guys!! You've all been awesome! Thanks for reading and supporting, and thanks for thinking that this somewhat stupid plot line was good. Lol. We totally loved writing it, and we hope you enjoyed reading it. Thanx again! Woof! Lol. 

~Dani and Sandy


End file.
